


Speechless

by LostinFic



Series: Any David Tennant character x Any Billie Piper character [16]
Category: The Escape Artist, True Love (TV)
Genre: Crossover Pairings, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Post-Canon, Teninch Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:06:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7034995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostinFic/pseuds/LostinFic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the prompts: "when it rains" + "when words are not enough". Will has to attend a work-related dinner and asks Holly to come along. Throughout the evening, he starts to consider they may be more than friends.</p><p>Set a few years after both shows. No previous knowledge of the characters necessary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Speechless

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: Foxmoon

Regent Garden was halfway between the courthouse and the public library where Holly worked. With the weather warming up, they had taken to meeting at its outdoor eatery for lunch. Will spotted her at a table in the shade of a large oak tree. She didn’t look up when he approached, she was focused on writing.  
“New notebook?” he asked after kissing her cheek.  
“Yeah, look, one half is lined and the other half is blank pages, so I can write AND doodle in it. Isn’t it great?”  
Will chuckled at her enthusiasm. That was Holly: addicted to notebooks and impossible loves. She spent half her time in her imagination and the other half living her life like it was written by a Brontë sister. And he would not have changed a thing about her.

They had met over a year ago thanks to a moving company mishap (688 Marchhall road, 686 Marshall ave.).  As it turned out, they had both lived out of the country before choosing Edinburgh for a fresh start in their homeland. He had been to university here, so he had offered to show her around. Over time, the similarities between their reasons for leaving the country brought them closer: escape the public eye after a scandal, make peace with what had happened and redefine their priorities. It was an unlikely friendship for sure, but their differences is what restored a balance in his life.

 

Holly finished writing a sentence and put the cap back on her pen before turning her attention to Will. He munched on a cheese toastie he had bought at Gregg’s on the way over.  
“Aren’t you having lunch?” he asked between two bites.  
“I am.” She tapped her fingernail against her glass of white wine.  
“Right. Listen, I have a thing on Saturday.”  
“Animal, vegetable or mineral?”  
“Sorry?”  
“Your thing. I’m trying to guess.”  
“No, it’s a work thing, stuffy thing, with clients.” He grimaced. “I was wondering if you’d come with me. Open bar and a free meal…”  
“Open bar and a free meal? You certainly know how to charm a lady.”

 

As she considered his invitation, he stared intently, short of crossing his fingers. Not only did these events bore him, they also made him nervous and awkward. As brilliant as he was in court, he was useless in social situations. He could remember every detail of every case he had ever defended, yet he forgot the name of everyone he met and even how to make small talk. His brain was full of holes, as his wife used to say. Before her death, she would come with him as a sort of social crutch. Holly was not much more outgoing than he was– which suited him just fine in a friend– but it would still be better than going by himself. As of now, there were only so many times he could avoid going before his boss made thinly veiled threats of termination.  
“You don’t have to, I just thought it’d be less awful with you there.”  
“No, I’ll go, I can do that for you.”

 

On Saturday, he went by her place to pick her up. He had not expected her to look so beautiful. It made sense that she would put some effort into her outfit, after all he had told her it was a formal event. But he was so used to seeing her in jeans and shirts or oversized cardigan, he could not stop his eyes from lingering on the form fitting wrap dress. No, he already knew she was beautiful, sexy was the word. Maybe it was the red lipstick or the way she played with her hair. He had made it clear from the start that he was not looking for more than friendship, but she had a way of shaking his resolve (and he suspected she enjoyed doing so.)

 

“What d’you think?” she asked, smoothing the green fabric over her hips.  
“It’s… yeah. Nice.”  
“Ta. I got it at the charity shop, only 15 quid. You can’t tell, right?”  
“Don’t worry. You look fine.”

 

As he drove, she fidgeted with her purse. “I should’ve brought a book.”  
“I’ve some ebooks on my mobile.”  
At a red light, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and let her scroll through the virtual library. She kept tapping her foot.  
“You alright?” he asked.  
“What will you tell people? About me, I mean.”  
“That you’re my friend. What else?”  
She didn’t answer him, and spent the rest of the ride chewing her fingernails.

 

As they approached the hotel where the dinner took place, Will looked out for a parking space, a rarity in the old part of the town. Exasperated, he simply stopped the car in a public square.  
“You can’t park there,” Holly said.  
“’Course I can. Common Law: Sawyer vs Harris,1998.”  
“Common decency: Holly vs Will, 2016.”  
He huffed but kept on driving.  
“We should’ve taken the bus.”  
“It smells.”  
“You’re such a snob. Look, these people are leaving.”

 

The Radisson’s historical facade contrasted with its contemporary interior— all sleek black and white. They located the reception room, but stalled at the entrance: it was crowded.

“You said something about an open bar, right?” she asked.  
A quick look past the doors, and they spotted it on the left. Whiskey for him and vodka soda for her which they sipped too fast.  
“Anyone you recognize?”  
“Nope… Ah, yes, my boss is coming over.”  
“The Vincent Price lookalike?”  
“The what— Hi, Merton.”  
Will shook the older man’s hand. Merton indicated a few people Will should introduce himself to.  
“Let’s do this, then,” he said, once his boss had left.  
They ordered another drink and stepped into the crowd.

 

Introducing Holly as his friend caused a few eyebrows to rise. Who brings a friend to a networking event? A networking event disguised as a charity dinner as Holly aptly pointed out. Raised eyebrows be damned, her presence calmed his nerves even if she had none of Kate’s social ease. He needed support, yet she was the one holding on to his arm, and somehow his confidence swelled.

 

Being an outsider to this kind of event, Holly had a knack for pointing out every ridiculous thing about it. She whispered cheeky comments in his ear and muffled her chuckles against his shoulder. Her favourite thing was comparing the people they met to famous movie villains (they had been watching a lot of classic horror movies recently.)  
“Norman Bates,” she whispered after they’d made small talk with a judge.  
“Great, how am I supposed to keep a straight face in court now?”

 

Despite a few inappropriate bouts of laughter, he managed to make a decent first impression to a few important people. He had done his part for the night.

 

They wandered towards the secret auction display. Holly admired the artwork up for auction. He knew nothing about art, but he could have listened to her talk about it all night– he had done so before, actually. Most pieces were uninteresting, though: some antique commemorative plate, a park bench sponsorship, golf lessons. By far the worst item was a monstrous porcelain doll of Kate Middleton.  
“Looks like the bride of Chucky. Oh, you should bet on it.”  
“You mad?”  
”Oh, c’mon, Will.”  
“All right, but I’m warning you: if I win the auction, it’ll be your birthday present.”

 

At the end of the exhibit, a coworker saw them.  
“Doctor Evil,” Will whispered in her ear as the bald man approached.  
Technically, Hadi was not bald, the close-cropped cut was meant to hide precocious hair loss. In fact, he was younger than Will, in age and in style. His shiny gray suit stretched over a muscled chest. The appreciative glance Holly and Hadi exchanged didn’t go unnoticed.  
“Your friend, uh?” he asked after the introduction. “Can I offer you a drink, Holly?”  
“We were just heading there, actually,” Will interrupted, putting an arm around her waist.

 

After a stop at the bar, dinner was announced. The three of them sat side by side at the long table set at the other end of the room. Hadi and Holly chatted away, leaving Will to make awkward small talk with other guests. He could not remember the name of the woman sat next to him, only that Holly had called her “Cruella Deville” because of her black and white hair.

 

Will’s annoyance grew with every sip of wine. Around the third course, Hadi finally left the table.  
“I can get rid of him if he’s bothering you,” Will said.  
“He’s not bothering me.”  
“C’mon, bloke like him?”  
“He knows a lot about Vikings.”  
“Oh, god, it’s your Medieval History TA all over again,” he said, referring to an affair she had in university.  
Holly looked down and fiddled with the hem of the table cloth. “You’re doing it again you know.”  
“What?”  
“You say you don’t want to be more than friends, then you get all jealous when I meet someone.”

  
And that was his cue to get all bashful and defensive. They had done this routine before. They have words and sulk, then make up absurdly quickly.  She assures Will he is more important to her. Vows of friendship are repeated. By this point, the flirtee is all but forgotten. Her flare for drama is sated. He feels special. And with the pretense of platonic love restored,  they are free to hug, cuddle and even sleep in the same bed.

 

Somehow, tonight, he went off-script.  
“Yeah, no, you’re right, I’ve no right to… Look, if you like him that much maybe I can leave early.”  
Holly’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then met in a frown. “What? No. I mean, you asked me to come to help you out, I shouldn’t have done that.”  
“No, you should. I need to make up my mind.”  
“Make up your mind?”  
“Decide what I want.”  
“I thought you only wanted to be friends.”  
“But I don’t act like one, do I?”  
“So, what? I should hook up with Hadi so you can feel like a better friend?”  
This was not what he had in mind, and he cursed himself for getting into this conversation unprepared.

 

Hadi came back at that moment, interrupting with an anecdote about an MP stuck in a toilet stall. He picked up his conversation with Holly where they had left off, but she didn’t pay as much attention. She had finished eating and pushed peas and carrots around her plate to create a pattern. Hadi gave up and moved on to another woman.

 

Dessert was served, and she played with it more than she ate it. Whipped cream became mountains and crumbles of chocolate cake became a trail through cherry red lava. Will couldn’t tell if she was just in her usual lost-in-thoughts state or angry at him.  
“Can I get that when you’re finished sculpting?” he tried.  
She pushed the plate towards him.

 

A man got up on stage to announce a long list of speeches about the charity and the importance of this fundraiser. Will came close to letting his head drop on the table.

“I could pretend I’m sick,” Holly whispered, “that’ll give us an excuse to get out of here.”

Will grinned, both amused and relieved by her words. “Please do it.”  
She rubbed her stomach with a little whine and let her eyes flutter shut.  
Right on cue, the woman sitting in front of them inquired about her health.  
“Stomach ache.”  
“Oh, dear lord, I hope it’s not something in the food.”  
“Hasn’t been feeling well since this morning,” Will intervened before creating a panic at the event.  
“You should take her home, lad.”  
He helped Holly to her feet, and she leaned on him all the way to the exit. He made sure his boss had seen them.

 

Once out of the hotel, they burst out laughing, startling the bell hop. They got into the car, still chuckling. Holly closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.  
“You tired?”  
“No, it still tingles,” she said, touching her throat as she laughed again.  
At that moment, he was unable to resist kissing her head.

 

After the cacophonous reception room, the silence was a relief. They rolled through the old town, past the illuminated castle.  The night was still light and warm, tourists and locals had taken over the streets. Down Southbridge, towards Marchhall road, the crowd thinned. Holly’s hair still brushed his cheek, and he wished the drive would last all night.

 

“It’s raining,” he said because he knew Holly liked it.  
She opened her eyes, and smiled slowly.  For someone who lived in such a rainy country, you think she would have lost her love of this weather long ago. Perhaps she’d missed it while she lived in Istanbul.

 

She rested her forehead against the window and followed the rivulets with her finger. He missed her weight against him.

 

“D'you want to come in?” she asked, once they had reached her place.  
“Sure.”  
He called to check in on his son; Jamie could take care of himself for another hour or two.

 

Time and time again, he had followed Holly up the stairs to her flat. Never had the moment been infused with excitement and trepidation.

_What am I doing?_

 

He was not surprised that once inside, she went directly out on the balcony. He joined her. The patio of the flat above protected them from getting soaked.  She extended her arm to feel the raindrops. She turned her hand up and down, let the water run between her fingers and wrap around her wrist.

 

The sycamores turned greener and the tarmac darker. Sheets of rain blurred the city line before his eyes. Edinburgh by Monet. The downpour absorbed all the other noises until there was nothing else but him and Holly and the rain. Right now, they could just be.

 

He didn’t think about Kate. He didn’t think about the fact that he was not thinking about Kate.

 

He put his hand out next to hers, also feeling the water drip along his knuckles and pool in the lines of his palm. And then she touched him, her hand slid along his, their wet fingers intertwined. He looked at her, and she smiled, one of her soft, dreamy smile. And there was nothing to say.

 

He was a barrister. He was paid to speak, to argue, to find just the right thing to say that would tip the scale in his client’s favour. In court, the right word could completely change a person’s fate. But right now, he had no words.

 

And Holly, Holly who had studied literature, who had taught English. She had read every classic novel and could quote the best poems. She built entire universes out of words. But right now, she had no words.

 

He rested his forehead on hers, and closed his eyes. In the raw stillness of this moment, his heart did all the talking. A pulse like Morse code, transmitted through the air, across the space between their chests.

 

Her free hand came to rest on the back of his neck. There was still in him a part that resisted, that fought the impulse. A last rampart. But she rubbed her nose against his with the softest of laugh, a laugh he tasted more than he heard, and that part of him crumbled.

 

His mouth caressed hers, carefully, hesitantly. Her sigh tickled his lips. And when her hand ran through his hair, he kissed her. Not just a touch, or a peck, a proper kiss with parted lips and heavy breathing.

 

He deepened the kiss, pushed forward until she had her back to the railing. Rain hit them, soaked their hair, slid down their foreheads and noses, seeped into the kiss. They didn’t stop. They laughed, but didn’t stop. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her closer. The kiss was a messy, uncoordinated thing, oh, but such a happy one. A heated thing too. It pooled low in his stomach, warm and heavy, and demanding. His hands explored, roamed her back and then lower. As a groan escaped his throat, he grabbed her bum with both hands. Holly untucked his shirt and ran her hands under the damp fabric, over his stomach and waist. Her nails scratched lightly as she bit his lower lip.

 

Lighting ripped through the sky, making them jump. Holly guided him inside, her body never quite leaving his. They shed clothes hastily and tumbled to the floor, all tangled limbs and rocking hips. He licked the rain up her neck, as she wrapped her legs around his hips. He captured her mouth once more and thrust in her. He worried the hardwood floor might be uncomfortable for her, but when he paused, she whimpered and arched her back, pushing her heels into his bum. And so he kept going. It was sweat now, beading between their skin.  

 

It had been so long for him, he came without a warning. He picked up where he had left off with his fingers. And it was even better that way. She was gorgeous, and he delighted in seeing the shifting pleasure and tension through her body. She grabbed his wrist, jerked her hips to meet his fingers, and release washed over her.

 

Lying naked on the floor, they kissed, again and again.

 

He wasn’t surprised, afterwards, when she got up, put on his shirt and went back out on the balcony.  He slipped on his pants and joined her outside. She cuddled up to him, and together they watched the rain fall over Edinburgh.


End file.
